Family Vacation 2013 started with our usual trip to McDonald's for Breakfast and then on to the airport. We all made is through security except Andrea who was detained and strip searched because she had put glycerin hand lotion on her hands and it showed up on the scanners. She looks like a terrorist doesn't she. We flew into Seattle where we met up with Rachel who flew in from D.C. After getting settled in our hotel we went on a duck tour. We got to see the house where sleepless in Seattle was filmed. That evening we went up the space needle for dinner. After dinner we went on the deck to watch the sun go down we then wandered around the gardens at the bottom of the needle and then went back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Day 2 - We Started out by going down town to the "Underground Tour". Apparently when Seattle was first settled is was below sea level and so they just built a new city on top of the old one. After the tour we went over to the wharf and hit all the little souvenir shops and fun spots. Then we went to lunch at the "Biscuit Bitch" which was really good and then on to "Pikes Market Place" to watch them throw fish and shop shop shop. We ended our day with a visit to the famous gum wall. YUK!!!
Day 3 we met Jo who was taking Adams ticket so we didn't waste it since Adam was unable to come and then boarded the Ship. We spent Day 4 at sea but had a great time on the ship watching movies a comedian an acrobat troupe and eating ourselves senseless.
Our first stop was Juneau Ak. Heather and Reed, Andrea and Casey and Mom and I went to a whale watching excursion while Rachel and Jo went to a glacier. Besides whales we also saw bald eagles, seals, sea lions and all sorts of other wild life.
The next day we were in Skagwa. Rachel, Andrea and Casey went on a helicopter ride to climb a glacier while the rest of us explored Skagwa. Later that afternoon we went into Canada, up the Klondike trail and across the swinging bridge over the Yukon river where the gold rush began. Our final stop for the day was for a salmon bake at Liarsville.
The next day we were at Glacier Bay which was some of the most breath taking scenery yet. When we got to the top of the bay the ship just sit and spun in a circle so we could watch the glaciers calve off and fall into the water. It was spectacular.
Our next stop was suppose to be Ketchican and then on to Victoria. Unfortunately the weather turned bad on us and because of high winds the ship could not get into the ports so we just headed back to Seattle. Even though we missed our last stops we had a great time and made some memories that we will never forget.
